Still, Always
by Team.Always.Both
Summary: Another Lily/James one-shot from me. I do love them! Lily is disrupted from a rather boring patrol by two mischief makers. Fluff ensues! Enjoy, Read and Review!


"Goodnight Lily," the boys chorused, expecting the Head girl to go straight up to the girl's dormitories, but she didn't

Still, Always

_The nightly patrol through the corridors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had never been so boring, _mused Lily Evans, Head Girl. She had been out in the cold corridors for about two hours, and had yet to catch anyone out of bed and up to mischief, unless you count the weird, old caretaker Mr Filch who had been having some trouble with Peeves the resident Poltergeist on the fourth floor, but as Lily was unable to reprimand either, despite the noise they had made, she deemed this the most boring patrol she had ever had, perhaps the most boring Hogwarts itself had ever witnessed. Her partner, Christopher Biggins had long since retired to the Hufflepuff common room, _not_ _that his absence made any difference, _she thought, as the only two words he had uttered all night had been "Hello" and a feeble "G'night".

Lily sighed loudly, flipping her thick, red locks that hung loose about her shoulders. She supposed she might as well just go back to the Gryffindor common room and have done with it. She turned, and began to do just that, her thoughts returning, as they always seemed to do nowadays, to one James Potter, Head Boy, mischief maker, class clown and her very secret object of affection. She had looked forward to their patrol together, as he had a knack of making the time go quicker by making her laugh, but had this evening, much to her disappointment and chagrin earned a detention along with his best friend, Sirius Black. _He would have made this evening one to remember despite the lack of actual wrongdoing, _she presumed, _as well as providing something nice to look at,_ she giggled to herself. She had always been attracted to James, despite the fact that she had proclaimed loudly and at length how much she hated him to anyone who would listen in the past. She loved his uncontrollable hair, and long to run her fingers through it, and his handsome face, that when he was animated, which was most of the time, would transform with a charming, boyish grin and those hazel eyes which would flash and twinkle behind his spectacles.

_Lily had no problem admitting to herself that she liked him – telling him that was a very different kettle of fish._

Lily was very dramatically dragged out of her reverie by a loud crash behind her in the corridor, followed by a rather loud "ouch!" Lily knew that voice anywhere, having heard it ring out in the common room, the Great Hall, classrooms, everywhere. Sirius Black was in big trouble.

"Come out Snuffles," she called, using the nickname she had made up for him on discovering the marauders' – made up of four boys, Black, Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew – greatest secret. Lupin, it had turned out, was a werewolf, and the other three had become illegal Animagi to support him. She approved of James' stag, he was beautiful in both human and animal form it seemed, but she had laughed out loud at Sirius' dog – _so him_, she thought, and she had been calling him Snuffles ever since. He didn't approve, but it had made James laugh, and that was worth a little scowling from Sirius.

"I know you're there Snuff -"

"Don't call me - mwppph!" Lily had heard that, and she'd also heard the slap of hand over mouth when Sirius had been silenced by a mystery companion. _She'd bet her last galleon that it was James under that invisibility cloak with him, and she acknowledged her pleasure at his presence._

"James, I know you are there, too, and if you don't come out within my count of three. The two of you, Head Boy or not, James will be in detention again tomorrow night. One, two -"

"Alright, alright," Sirius cried, pulling the cloak off the two of them, some way down the corridor from them.

"Hi Lily," said James, smiling at her, the light of her _lumos _incantation revealing a light blush to her cheeks. _She really was pathetic!_

"Good evening James, Snuffles," she giggled, seeing Sirius get worked up.

"I told you not to call me that! It is too effeminate! I'm a big, black angry dog, woman! And why doesn't James have a pet name?" he shouted.

"_Calm down man_," whispered James, chuckling slightly, "_We don't want to wake the whole castle!"_

This seemed to soothe Sirius to silence, though he still tried to look mad at Lily, which failed, as she knew that he was a cuddly thing really.

"What on earth are you two doing out of bed this late, anyway? Seeing as though not one of you has patrol and as far as I know your detention finished ages ago, eh?"

"Well er, we…er"

"We were taking a midnight stroll," Sirius said, rolling his eyes at his best mate who couldn't help but get tongue-tied when in the vicinity of this luscious lass.

"Well then," she said, "I have no choice but to give you detention, boys. You know aimless midnight wandering isn't allowed, James. And you've caught me on a rather fruitless night, so this little ordeal is somewhat light relief for me this evening. Unlucky, boys."

"Wait, Lily," started James, finally finding his voice, "Don't be so hasty. We've been down to the kitchens."

"You know where they are?" she asked, sounding awed. _These boys, no men, _she thought, looking at James in particular, _never cease to amaze me._

"Of course we -" Sirius began haughtily, before being cut off by James.

"We brought you something!"

"You did?" _**"We did?!"**_

"Yeah," said James. What happened next was very interesting to Lily. James and Sirius looked at each other, one pleading, the latter mutinous. Then they began what one could only describe as a silent fight, like a tug of war of the mind. They fought in facial expressions, and Lily wished she could lip read, but it was even harder in the dark. In the end, after a lot of frowning and bizarre hand gestures, James seemed triumphant, as it was he who smiled broadly, and he grabbed something from Sirius' grasp - a piece of treacle tart – which he handed to Lily.

"James got it for you," said Sirius, though through his gritted teeth it was hard to decipher, "he knows it is your favourite."

It is her favourite, and she is perhaps a little too pleased that James did this, smiling broadly, and gazing at James too intently to see Sirius roll his eyes yet again.

"Thanks," she said quietly, genuinely. She fingered the treacle tart, hungry all of a sudden, and began to devour her favourite treat, missing the angry exchange between the two boys, the hissed _"You owe me big time, Prongs! I was saving that for later!" __**"I think you had enough in the kitchens! Too much sugar makes you cranky!" **__"We'll talk about this later!"_

"This is so good!" exclaims Lily, breaking up the whispered argument, "Will you show me where the kitchens are? I have to get more of this stuff!"

Sirius was about to say no, she was sure, the "Bugger off!" on the tip of his tongue, but James cut across him, again, and told her they would. The three huddled under his invisibility cloak, and it was a squeeze, not that Lily minded much, squashed between the two boys, _every girl in Hogwarts would want to be the ham in this sandwich, _she thought, giggling softly to herself.

She earned a sharp "What?" from Sirius, but chose to ignore him, walking slowly so that she could be closer to James, who was behind her, a large hand of his on her shoulder.

"_How did you find out where the Kitchens were?" _she whispered to James.

"_My dad told me, he found them when he was here at Hogwarts. Didn't tell me which painting to go to though, just that the right one giggled when you tickled it. "_

"_There's a painting that giggles! That's so cool!" _said an excited Lily. She couldn't wait to get there. _"But how did you find it all by yourself, James?"_

Sirius snorted from the front of their little group. _"He didn't find it by himself! The first week we got to Hogwarts he told Remus, Peter and I that it existed, and we all proceeded to spend weeks on end tickling every damn painting in Hogwarts trying to find it!"_

Lily giggled, and the two boys seemed to find the funny side of their early crazed behaviour, until Sirius suddenly stopped, and Lily looked at the painting they stood before, a simple still-life painting of fruit.

"_Tickle the pineapple, Lily" _said a voice so close to her ear that she could feel the warm breath on her skin. It was James, of course, judging by her warm cheeks and the Goosebumps that appeared all over her skin. He was standing far too close for comfort, and yet not near enough for Lily, who had momentarily forgotten all about the painting.

"_Go_ _on then Lily, tickle the pineapple," _urgedSirius_._

She reached up, blushing slightly as she felt both eyes on her, and tickled the pineapple. _Nothing happened._

That's when she heard a bark-like laugh behind her, followed by James' distinctive low chuckle, and she knew she'd been had. She was not amused.

"You lied!" she cried, indignant, as they both continued to chuckle at her expense. "I'm off to bed and you both have detention!"

This threat seemed to sober James, who grabbed her arm before she had time to run off. She had a hard time trying to ignore the Goosebumps that erupted there, where he grasped her.

"_Come 'ere,"_ he whispered softly, guiding her hand once again to the painting, this time to the pear, and putting his index finger over hers, together they tickled.

She gasped on hearing the high pitched giggle, and started to laugh herself. James, being quite a bit taller than her, looked down at her, and was drawn into her happy expression, into her beautiful emerald green eyes, as she gazed at him through them. He thought he could lose himself in her gaze, but was saved from doing so by a loud, obnoxious cough from behind him. They both looked round to a smirking Sirius.

"Sorry to have broken your little staring contest but there is food waiting right through there," he said, pointing past Lily, who had been so caught up in the little moment with James that she had missed the portrait opening to reveal the kitchens. He walked through them, and James, who still held her hand, led her through to the large rooms.

An hour later the three emerged, laughing, arms stacked with goodies that the house elves had practically forced on them. If someone had told Lily two years ago that she would spend a good part of an evening with James Potter and Sirius Black, sneaking around the castle at the dead of night and _enjoying herself immensely _she would have scoffed and recommended a doctor. Now, squashed between the two once again, navigating the way back to Gryffindor, she couldn't imagine herself to be anywhere else, especially when half way back to the tower Sirius suddenly halted in front of her, and she was forced to stop abruptly, James crashing into the back of her. Lily thought Sirius may have spotted Mr Filch, or his bloody cat Mrs Norris, but those thoughts were swept from her mind when she realised that James was still pressed up intimately behind her. She boldly leant back into him, and his hands encircled her tiny waist. All she could hear was Sirius rustling that special map that the marauders use, and the sound of her and James' heavy breathing, his once again close to her ear. She was assailed with images of the two of them pressed close together in a dark corridor, minus Sirius, snogging fiercely, hands everywhere. She felt the heat of her cheeks, and was grateful for the darkness. Sirius deemed the path clear, and they moved forward once again, Lily noted her disappointment that James had let go of her waist.

"Goodnight Lily," the boys chorused, when they finally reached the tower, expecting the Head girl to go straight up to the girl's dormitories, but she didn't. Her gaze focused on James, she seemed rooted to the spot.

"Oh are you going up to bed already? But I'm not tired! You're not going are you James?" she said, looking pointedly at the boy/man before her, who despite her less than subtle invitation looked slightly confused. Sirius, however, looking between the two picked up on Lily's intent to stay up with James, and _only_ James, and in keeping to the theme of tonight, he mused, decided to grant his dear friend one more huge favour.

"Yeah _James_," he said slowly "you wouldn't want dear Evans to be all on her own down here now, would you? And I am quite fatigued," he finished, with an overly dramatic, fake yawn.

Lily shook her head, _talk about obvious! _Although, she thought wryly, remembering James' confused face, _He probably needed someone to spell it out. _And judging by his comical change of expression from hit-over-the-head-troll to switched-on light bulb, James had finally got the hint. Lily suppressed a giggle and managed to breathe a good night to Sirius. She had not stopped staring at James.

"Yeah, goodnight Sirius," James muttered, gazing at Lily as though she was the only thing in the room. Sirius had enough time to roll his eyes at the pair before disappearing up the dormitory stairwell.

Finally alone, Lily turned her back on James to wander over to the roaring fire of the common room, and proceeded to plonk her bottom on the rug before it, glancing in what she hoped was a seductive manner at James, patting the ground beside her. She did not watch him walk over, a gentle, serene smile gracing his full lips, in favour of the dazzling fire. He, on the other hand could not stand to take his eyes off of her. She was beautiful, and the fire that danced in her emerald eyes and that made her porcelain skin glow only served to pronounce the beauty that he knew was already there.

She felt a large hand on her shoulder, and she turned just in time to see him fall into place beside her at the fire. It truly was a romantic setting, _but could she work up the courage to take advantage of it?_

"So…you're not tired..." he began, unsure of what to say. It wasn't often that James Potter was tongue-tied, but it always seemed to be so around this girl, of all people.

"No, I'm not," she said, looking up at him. He was closer than she had first thought, and from her vantage point she could make out the greens, browns and golds of his hazel eyes, "I've got far too much energy for this time of night, morning," she corrected, seeing the time read 1.30 a.m on the fancy watch that she had got from her parents on her seventeenth birthday, "It's all that treacle tart I had, it makes me hyperactive."

"Oh, alright…erm…what do you want to do then? I see Peter's left his wizard's chess set down here if you want me to -"

"No!" she said, rather too forcefully cutting him off, "I mean why don't we just sit here and talk about…stuff."

"Stuff?" he asked sceptically, although he acknowledged, he would rather be here talking about "stuff" with Lily Evans than doing anything, anywhere else, even Quidditch! The thought made him smile.

Lily noticed the small smile, and decided enough was enough. She had been waiting to get him on his own for ages, and having managed just that she wasn't about to waste a perfect opportunity.

"James," she began, tentatively, nervously, which he seemed to pick up on, for as soon as she had whispered his name, his ears sprang up, as she supposed an animal's might. She reckoned it was the stag in him.

"Yes, Lily?"

_Now or never,_ she thought_. _"Why is it that you never ask me out anymore?"

_Silence. _Utter silence assailed her ears as she gazed at him. One could hear a pin drop. The only noise that she could hear, that she pretended she could hear, were the turning clogs of James' mind, as she saw his face how he was trying to process her question, and perhaps, she hoped, anyway, to come up with a positive answer.

James was shocked. _Did she just ask that? _Sirius had been convinced for the best part of this first term of seventh year that Lily had been harbouring a secret crush, but he dared not to believe it. Tonight, though, she had seemed out of sorts, giggling and flirting and acting so _unlilyish_ that he had been confused. Sure, she had smiled and been pleasant to him this past year, laughed at his jokes, even the truly terrible ones, and despite all of his initial fears, been supportive of his position as Head Boy of Hogwarts. _Could she be asking that because she was disappointed or upset that she may not still like her?_

He looked down at her, into her green eyes that were trained on him, on his face, as if trying to read his mind. "I thought it annoyed you," he said softly, though startling her, and she broke her intense scrutiny.

"It did," she replied, unable to look at him, though she couldn't say why, "I thought you didn't really like me. I thought it was all just a game. You never seemed serious about it."

"I did like you, Lily. I really liked you. Even before I realised it, back when I used to call you names and pull your pigtails," he said, half-smiling in remembrance, "I just never really knew how to go about telling you. I know I was a complete idiot at the best of times," he winced, thinking about the incident at the lake, "but I did really like you. But you always said no, and I guess I just decided that my ego, and my heart, and with your temper, my physical being had all taken too much of a battering," and he grinned, seeing her smile, before they both realised that his heart wasn't really in it, and he was, in fact, talking in all seriousness, and he continued, "I thought it best for the both of us that I give up, although I did _really_ like you, Lily," he finished, waiting for her response.

"Did, James?" she asked, quietly, looking down at her feet.

"Excuse me?"

"_Did_, James?" she repeated, "You _did _really like me? But you don't now?"

He took a moment to gaze at her. Her cheeks were flushed, whether that was the effects of sitting too close to a roaring fire, or his words, he did not know, nor did he care. Her eyes had taken on a fierce glaze as though she was seething with anger, or extremely passionate, or she was about to cry – C_ry because she thought he no longer liked – no loved her? Perhaps she was angry because of it? Or else passionate because she wanted him to confess that he still loved her, and to kiss her wildly in the if front of the common room fire that she had lured him to, after practically forcing his best friend to leave them quite alone?_

"_Did_…" he said leaning in so he could whisper intimately in her ear, "_do."_

She looked shell-shocked for several moments, until the tension fled from her, and all she could was melt into the chair that she had had her back to. He noticed that his close proximity and his words had had an enormous effect on her breathing, which had become heavy, and laboured.

She looked into his eyes, and he saw the questions in hers. She followed his lead and tilted her head up to whisper in his ear, _"Still?"_

"_**Always.**__"_

"Oh"

"Yeah"

For a moment they just looked at one another, unsure of what to say or do next. _Just go for it, Lily, take a chance. _

"_What would you do," _she breathed in his ear, breaking the silence, finally working up the courage to say what she had been wanting to blurt out to the man before her all night, "W_hat would you say, if I told you that I was disappointed that you had stopped asking me out? What would you do if I told you that I had fallen hard for you, that I had never really hated you? What if I asked you to kiss me right -"_

But she was cut off by the press of James' full, soft lips. He kissed her gently, chastely, and their lips moved across one another slowly, teasingly. Lily longed for more, and James seemed to instinctively know, as he captured her full bottom lip with both of hers, and tugged. She let out a soft whimper, her mouth open, and James pounced, guiding her into a hot, open-mouthed kiss, which was neither slow nor gentle. Their tongues reached out to each other haltingly at first, but it wasn't long before instinct took over, and as they danced, all James could think about was Lily, and how she engulfed him, her taste – treacle tart, her touch – all soft, red hair that his fingers had somehow got lost in as they kissed, her sounds – the soft moans, the whimpers as he pressed _just so. _She smelled of strawberry shampoo and the house-elves' cocoa, and he was officially lost in her. He doubted that he would ever make it back out, though, as they slowed down their frantic kissing – no, flat-out _snogging_, and as she sweetly rubbed her button nose against his longer one in a sign of true affection, he could honestly say he never wished to be found.

They both decided, after much fanfare, and renewed snogging that it was, unfortunately time to part for bed.

Before Lily turned to march up the girl's stairs, however he heard her mutter a "G'night Snuffles" and she disappeared, chuckling softly.

"Snuffles?" questioned James to the seemingly empty common room, and he sighed heavily. "Show yourself Sirius."

And he appeared suddenly, after quickly shedding James' invisibility cloak, looking, if it was possible, both elated and annoyed.

"How much did you see?" sighed James, unable to find it in his heart to be mad at his best friend in the whole world, despite his extreme nosiness. He was just in too much of a good mood.

"I saw enough to know that you owe me at least several dozen treacle tarts."

"Oh Padfoot, for all that you have done tonight, you can have several thousand treacle tarts."

JLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJLJL

"And that, Harry, was how your wonderful god father set up your parents so that you could be born." The little boy in his arms giggled once again as he was tapped on his cute, button nose.

"You're not telling Harry that story, again are you Padfoot? The poor boy has surely heard enough of your tales," said an amused James Potter, wandering into his son's nursery.

"Harry loves me and my stories. I think it is very important that he knows his roots, and that I'm to thank for everything."

"He's the only one who'll sit and listen to your stories, more like. I'm sure that if he could talk back, he'd say," James paused holding up his son to face his best friend, "Shuddup Siwus!"

The two men fell about laughing, only to be disrupted by the angry voice of Mrs Lily Potter. "What is my son doing up so late?" she admonished, glaring at Sirius and grabbing Harry who was attempting to grab at his dad's glasses, "You were on "get Harry to sleep duty" so what happened?"

"Sirius was just telling Harry how we got together. Again," James informed her.

"Again?" she said incredulously, "I'm surprised he's not asleep, that would have got me off to a nice slumber," she laughed along with James.

"Fine, Fine!" cried Sirius, "I know where I'm not wanted!" And with that he stalked out of the room.

James watched his wife as she put his son into his crib, tucking him in. "G'night Harry," they both whispered, seeing his beautiful green eyes droop.

"You don't really think the story of how we got together is boring, do you Lily?"

"No, of course not."

"I love you."

"Still?"

"Always."


End file.
